diff --git a/clients/web/src/test/core/mcp/uriTemplate.test.ts b/clients/web/src/test/core/mcp/uriTemplate.test.ts
index b0d38f03..687d7a3f 100644
--- a/clients/web/src/test/core/mcp/uriTemplate.test.ts
+++ b/clients/web/src/test/core/mcp/uriTemplate.test.ts
@@ -880,6 +880,27 @@ describe("the per-value length ceiling", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("ignores an oversized value the template never references", () => {
+    // RFC 6570 ignores an extra variable, and the SDK path this replaced
+    // validated a value only after looking one up by declared name -- so
+    // checking the whole map refused `x://{id}` over a stale key beside it.
+    expect(
+      tryExpandUriTemplate("x://{id}", {
+        id: "7",
+        stale: "a".repeat(1_000_001),
+      }).uri,
+    ).toBe("x://7");
+  });
+
+  it("scopes valueLengthError to the names it is given", () => {
+    const values = { id: "7", stale: "a".repeat(1_000_001) };
+    expect(valueLengthError(values, ["id"])).toBeNull();
+    expect(valueLengthError(values, ["id", "stale"])).not.toBeNull();
+    // Unscoped, every entry is examined -- the behavior the preview and the
+    // read both moved off.
+    expect(valueLengthError(values)).not.toBeNull();
+  });
+
   it("names the offending variable", () => {
     expect(
       tryExpandUriTemplate("x://{a}/{b}", { a: "1", b: "b".repeat(1_000_001) })
diff --git a/clients/web/src/utils/uriTemplate.test.ts b/clients/web/src/utils/uriTemplate.test.ts
index a3133e22..1b9eacc4 100644
--- a/clients/web/src/utils/uriTemplate.test.ts
+++ b/clients/web/src/utils/uriTemplate.test.ts
@@ -144,6 +144,15 @@ describe("previewUriTemplate - the value ceiling", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("ignores an oversized value the template never references", () => {
+    expect(
+      previewUriTemplate("x://{id}", {
+        id: "7",
+        stale: "a".repeat(1_000_001),
+      }),
+    ).toBe("x://7");
+  });
+
   it("still previews a value at the limit", () => {
     const value = "a".repeat(1_000_000);
     expect(previewUriTemplate("x://{v}", { v: value })).toBe(`x://${value}`);
diff --git a/clients/web/src/utils/uriTemplate.ts b/clients/web/src/utils/uriTemplate.ts
index 06ea88a1..7d55b8c2 100644
--- a/clients/web/src/utils/uriTemplate.ts
+++ b/clients/web/src/utils/uriTemplate.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
  */
 
 import {
+  declaredNames,
   definedValues,
   encodeLiteral,
   expandTemplateExpression,
@@ -79,20 +80,25 @@ export function previewUriTemplate(
 ): string {
   const defined = definedValues(values);
 
-  // The same ceiling `tryExpandUriTemplate` enforces for the read. Without it
-  // the guard was half a guard: submission was refused while this path still
-  // handed the oversized value to the encoders on every keystroke, so a large
-  // paste froze the UI anyway. Checked before any encoding happens.
-  if (valueLengthError(defined) !== null) return uriTemplate;
-
   // The same verdict the read is gated on. Without it this expanded expression
   // by expression regardless: `x://{a}}/{b}` with both fields filled previewed
   // `x://1}/2`, a URI whose stray `}` makes every read refuse -- the preview
   // promising something the form it sits in can never send.
   if (templateError(uriTemplate) !== null) return uriTemplate;
 
+  const parts = parseUriTemplate(uriTemplate);
+
+  // The same ceiling `tryExpandUriTemplate` enforces for the read, scoped the
+  // same way -- to the names this template references. Without it the guard was
+  // half a guard: submission was refused while this path still handed the
+  // oversized value to the encoders on every keystroke, so a large paste froze
+  // the UI anyway. Checked before any encoding happens.
+  if (valueLengthError(defined, declaredNames(parts)) !== null) {
+    return uriTemplate;
+  }
+
   try {
-    return parseUriTemplate(uriTemplate)
+    return parts
       .map((part) => {
         if (part.kind === "literal") return encodeLiteral(part.text);
         // `Object.hasOwn`, not a bare lookup: `toString` and `constructor` are
diff --git a/core/mcp/uriTemplate.ts b/core/mcp/uriTemplate.ts
index 025c95a8..a536dde3 100644
--- a/core/mcp/uriTemplate.ts
+++ b/core/mcp/uriTemplate.ts
@@ -709,13 +709,21 @@ export function expandUriTemplateStrict(
   uriTemplate: string,
   values: Record<string, string>,
 ): string {
-  const invalid = templateError(uriTemplate);
+  const sdk = sdkTemplateError(uriTemplate);
+  if (sdk) throw new Error(sdk);
+
+  // Parsed ONCE and reused for validation, the name list and the expansion --
+  // the template is server-controlled and may be up to 1 MB, so re-parsing it
+  // per step is real work on the render thread.
+  const parts = parseUriTemplate(uriTemplate);
+
+  const invalid = partsError(uriTemplate, parts);
   if (invalid) throw new Error(invalid);
 
-  const tooLong = valueLengthError(values);
+  const tooLong = valueLengthError(values, declaredNames(parts));
   if (tooLong) throw new Error(tooLong);
 
-  return expandParts(parseUriTemplate(uriTemplate), values);
+  return expandParts(parts, values);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -733,14 +741,27 @@ export function expandUriTemplateStrict(
  * literal, and a varspec this module's own grammar rejects.
  */
 export function templateError(uriTemplate: string): string | null {
+  return (
+    sdkTemplateError(uriTemplate) ??
+    partsError(uriTemplate, parseUriTemplate(uriTemplate))
+  );
+}
+
+/**
+ * What the SDK's constructor rejects: an unclosed `{`, and its template-length
+ * (1e6), expression-count (1e4) and variable-name-length (1e6) limits.
+ */
+function sdkTemplateError(uriTemplate: string): string | null {
   try {
     new UriTemplate(uriTemplate);
+    return null;
   } catch (error) {
     return error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);
   }
+}
 
-  const parts = parseUriTemplate(uriTemplate);
-
+/** What this module's own grammar rejects, given the already-parsed template. */
+function partsError(uriTemplate: string, parts: TemplatePart[]): string | null {
   // A brace left in a literal is an unmatched one, and it is not a legal
   // literal character. The SDK's constructor rejects an unclosed `{` but reads
   // a stray `}` as text, and this parser does the same, so without this check
@@ -779,6 +800,13 @@ const MAX_VALUE_LENGTH = 1_000_000;
 /**
  * The first value exceeding {@link MAX_VALUE_LENGTH}, as a message, or `null`.
  *
+ * `names` limits the check to the variables a template actually references,
+ * and callers should pass it. RFC 6570 ignores an extra variable, and the SDK
+ * path this replaced validated a value only *after* looking one up by declared
+ * name — so checking the whole map made an unrelated entry fail a template
+ * that never mentions it: `x://{id}` with a valid `id` was refused because
+ * some stale megabyte-long key sat beside it in the caller's map.
+ *
  * Exported because the *preview* needs the same verdict and cannot get it from
  * {@link expandUriTemplateStrict}: it expands expression by expression, so it
  * would otherwise hand an oversized value straight to the encoders during
@@ -787,15 +815,28 @@ const MAX_VALUE_LENGTH = 1_000_000;
  */
 export function valueLengthError(
   values: Record<string, string>,
+  names?: Iterable<string>,
 ): string | null {
-  for (const [name, value] of Object.entries(values)) {
-    if (value.length > MAX_VALUE_LENGTH) {
+  const considered =
+    names === undefined ? Object.keys(values) : [...new Set(names)];
+  for (const name of considered) {
+    const value = readValue(values, name);
+    if (value !== undefined && value.length > MAX_VALUE_LENGTH) {
       return `The value for "${name}" exceeds the ${MAX_VALUE_LENGTH}-character limit.`;
     }
   }
   return null;
 }
 
+/** The variable names a parsed template references, in order, deduplicated. */
+export function declaredNames(parts: TemplatePart[]): string[] {
+  return [
+    ...new Set(
+      parts.flatMap((part) => (part.kind === "expression" ? part.names : [])),
+    ),
+  ];
+}
+
 /**
  * The outcome of an expansion: the URI, or the reason there isn't one.
  *